The TRIM Notice in Florida: Reading the August Letter That Sets Your Tax Bill
The TRIM notice Florida owners receive each August shows the proposed assessment, exemptions and millage before the bill is final. It is the only window to appeal. Read it against your closing and your escrow.
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The TRIM notice Florida property owners receive each August shows the proposed assessed value, the exemptions applied and each taxing authority's proposed rate before the November bill is final.
It is the only window to appeal. Our guide to property tax appeals in Florida covers what to do if the number is wrong.
What TRIM means
Truth in Millage, the state law that requires the notice.
The Florida Department of Revenue TRIM page explains the process.
Mailed by the property appraiser in August.
Not a bill; a preview.
The bill follows in November.
The values
Market value: the appraiser's estimate.
Assessed value: market value limited by the homestead or non-homestead cap.
See our guide to Save Our Homes in Florida.
Taxable value: assessed value minus exemptions.
Last year's figures beside this year's.
The exemptions
Homestead, additional homestead, senior, veteran, disability, widow.
See our guide to the Florida homestead exemption.
A missing exemption you filed for is an error to fix.
A missing exemption you did not file for is a lost year.
Check every line.
The millage
Each taxing authority's proposed rate: county, city, school, water management, special districts.
Last year's rate, the rolled-back rate and the proposed rate.
Public hearing dates for each.
You can attend and speak.
Rates are set after the hearings.
The estimated tax
Taxable value times each millage, summed.
Non-ad valorem assessments are listed separately or on the bill.
See our guide to CDD fees in Florida.
Compare to your escrow's projection.
See our guide to escrow shortages in Florida.
The appeal deadline
Twenty-five days from the notice mailing date to petition the Value Adjustment Board.
The date is printed on the notice.
An informal conference with the appraiser first.
See our guide to property tax appeals in Florida.
Miss it and the value stands for the year.
First TRIM after purchase
The reset year: market value replaces the seller's capped assessment.
See our guide to property tax estimates for new buyers in Florida.
Your homestead should appear if you filed by March 1.
Portability should appear if you filed for it.
See our guide to homestead portability in Florida.
Market value above purchase price
Appeal with the closing statement as evidence.
A sale price is strong evidence of value.
See our guide to low appraisals in Florida for the appraisal parallel.
The informal conference often resolves it.
A successful appeal lowers every later year's base.
Sending it to the lender
The escrow analysis uses the November bill, not the TRIM.
See our guide to escrow accounts in Florida.
A large increase on the TRIM predicts the shortage.
Ask for a mid-year analysis if the jump is large.
Or prepare the cash.
Renters and investors
Non-homestead property shows the 10 percent cap and no exemptions.
See our guide to the non-homestead cap in Florida.
School millage is uncapped.
Investors appeal aggressively because the cap is weak.
Read every rental's notice.
Condos
Unit assessments follow building sales.
See our guide to refinancing a condo in Florida.
A building with falling values after an assessment may be over-assessed.
Comparable unit sales support an appeal.
The association sometimes appeals collectively.
Errors to look for
Wrong square footage, bedroom count or lot size.
An addition counted twice or a demolished structure still assessed.
A missing exemption.
A wrong millage district.
The appraiser corrects factual errors without a hearing.
The hearings
Each authority holds public hearings on its proposed rate in September.
Dates and locations on the notice.
Rates can only go down from the proposed figure at the hearing.
Attendance is rare and heard.
The rolled-back rate is the no-increase baseline.
After the bill arrives
November bills carry a four percent discount for payment that month.
Escrowed loans pay in November.
See our guide to what PITI is in Florida.
Compare the bill to the TRIM; they should match unless an appeal changed it.
Keep both.
Selling and the TRIM
Buyers ask for the TRIM to estimate their reset.
See our guide to what not to do before closing in Florida.
Your capped assessment is not their bill.
Provide it anyway; it shows the market value.
Portability leaves with you.
A worked reading
Market value up, assessed value capped at three percent, homestead applied, millage flat.
The tax rises slightly; the escrow absorbs it.
A neighbour who bought last year sees market value as assessed value and a large jump.
Their TRIM is the one to appeal if it exceeds the price paid.
Same street, two very different letters.
Keeping the notices
A file of every TRIM notice shows the assessment history.
Useful for appeals, for portability and for a buyer's questions.
Most counties archive them online.
Print the current one anyway.
It is the only annual document that shows the cap working.
Where to start
Read the August notice line by line: values, exemptions, millage, deadline.
Call the appraiser's office about any error before the deadline.
Then start a conversation if the projected bill changes what a refinance or purchase should look like.